Who Rules America?

Who Rules America?
An Investment Manager Breaks Down the Economic Top 1%, Says 0.1% Controls Political and Legislative Process

I sit in an interesting chair in the financial services industry. Our clients largely fall into the top 1%, have a net worth of $5,000,000 or above, and if working make over $300,000 per year. My observations on the sources of their wealth and concerns come from my professional and social activities within this group. ...

The Upper Half of the Top 1%

Membership in this elite group is likely to come from being involved in some aspect of the financial services or banking industry, real estate development involved with those industries, or government contracting. Some hard working and clever physicians and attorneys can acquire as much as $15M-$20M before retirement but they are rare. Those in the top 0.5% have incomes over $500k if working and a net worth over $1.8M if retired. The higher we go up into the top 0.5% the more likely it is that their wealth is in some way tied to the investment industry and borrowed money than from personally selling goods or services or labor as do most in the bottom 99.5%. They are much more likely to have built their net worth from stock options and capital gains in stocks and real estate and private business sales, not from income which is taxed at a much higher rate. These opportunities are largely unavailable to the bottom 99.5%.

Found this video discussion from the John Perkins, author of Economic Hit Man. Video is broken up in multiple sections. Found it interesting that corporations once had to provide for the public good and had to provide proof that they met this criteria. A bit quaint in today's environment.

I'm not sure I get the point of this thread. Isn't this the case almost everywhere in the world? a long held truism in politics and international relations is that politics almost always follows the money, not the other way around.

"Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United
States to expressly exclude for-profit corporations from
the rights given to natural persons by the Constitution
of the United States, prohibit corporate spending in all
elections, and affirm the authority of Congress and the
States to regulate corporations and to regulate and set
limits on all election contributions and expenditures."

If people voted, paid attrention to those they elected and fired the bums when they fail to do what they promiced, things would change. It does not matter how much money flows into their campaign. As soon as We the People pay attention and hold these idiots accountable, they will change.

Money helps then win, but that does not matter; votes only matter. Corporations can give a politician tens of millions of dollars, but that is wasted cash that does no good when people pay attention and start voting the bums out.

My fear is if a republican is elected, the HC bill will not be dispatched. I just do not trust them anymore.Getting rid of all Dems is a start, but I still think if a republican is elected, it will not change.

My view is we will see things we should never see happening in this country and my fear is this will be far more scary place in the next few years.

... Money helps then win, but that does not matter; votes only matter. Corporations can give a politician tens of millions of dollars, but that is wasted cash that does no good when people pay attention and start voting the bums out. ...

We make decisions based on the information we know, if information is skewed, results are skewed.

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The very rich can afford to promote their views via a range of media. They can afford to hire bloggers, posters, "grass root" (Astroturf) movements, media storefronts (TV, Radio, Print), etc. which will skew the information provided to voters.​

I guess you can say MONEY rules America. It's how Romney was all for the healthcare bill for his state as governor, but now as a republican running for president, he's all against it on a national level.

I guess you can say MONEY rules America. It's how Romney was all for the healthcare bill for his state as governor, but now as a republican running for president, he's all against it on a national level.

How is it different from a state level and national level?

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Don't blame Romney, he's just doing what his masters pay him do. If you're not paying him, tough cookies. This is a pay-to-play system.

Corporations rule America, plain and simple.
We are enslaved to them with no way out.
The only out I can see personally is another civil war.

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Actually bankers rule America, mainly the Rothchild family who have been around for centuries. If you look into their history you will see that what is going on in America today is nothing new as they have been creating a worldwide banking monopoly for a long period of time, and they are now trying to place the final pieces which are in Iran, and North Korea so you can expect to see conflicts in one or both of those countries in the near future. They currently have a central bank set up in every country but those 2, and that is why I say we will see conflicts in those locations. They have been manipulating economies and starting wars for financial gain for a very long time, and I do not see an end in sight unless it is shut down at the source.

I note that in none of the linked articles you present are there any confirmed criminal charges or convictions; investigations, yes, but not charges or convictions.

I tend to go with 'innocent until proven guilty', but that's just me, and maybe that's why you think I'm a moron.

Personally I think it's more moronic to make accusations against people without due process. YMMV

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Which part of "Barclays agreed to pay at least $450 million to resolve government investigations of manipulation of Libor and the Euro interbank offered rate (or Euribor)" is confusing ?

It is difficult to put a corporation in jail, so a penalty is usually assessed. Charges against individuals follow. Barclays is the 1st, UBS to follow.

Barclay didn't plea guilty and pay a fine due to lack of effective legal counsel. The CEO was also given the boot.

This is just the beginning of the process, now the governments have the cooperation of the "guilty" corporation, records of evidence of wrongdoing will point to the individuals that can see the inside of a jail cell.